Credits

Saturday

I accidentally mentioned the "v" word on Facebook (Vacation, you potty minds...) and my husband nearly had a fit. I know, I know, I shouldn't disclose to the entire internet that we are going somewhere else that is not our home, I should know better. Shame on me. So after the gentle admonishment from my husband, I kept quiet here.

Hence, the absence from the blog. Oh how I missed an internet connection. It was probably better that way, though, as I was not blogging and not looking up useless crap and not getting sidetracked while looking up useless crap only to look up more useless crap that I thought of during the original useless crap. Because that's what usually happens. It's actually what happened when I logged on about an hour and a half ago, when I had a full laptop charge and now all of a sudden I don't.

Actually, why don't I continue the list of what I didn't do while I'm at it.

I didn't... log my *cough* calories. Yup. Caution was thrown to the wind in the form of fish 'n chips, ice cream and pizza.

I didn't... spend hardly any time on my cell phone.

I didn't... wear pretty much anything that I brought with me to the beach.

I didn't... exercise as much as I should have, but I did get two runs in, two swims and one arm workout (not to mention the walking and the carrying of babies and beachstuffs including and not limited to beach bags, coolers, toys, towels and diaperbags). Does that count?

But what I did do was go on a boat ride to a little island with my family and see this along the way:

I still honestly can't believe I caught him jumping out of the water, I am so excited, that is one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken ever. I did a lot of picture-taking. A lot. Tons. My camera was a part of me. What else did I do. Let's see.

I did... drink sangria with my husband while watching this from our balcony:

I did... spend most of my time with my family, on this beach, literally morning, noon and night, which is why I wore nothing of what I brought, except for bathing suits and wraps. I could get used to that.

Sidebar: baby on a boat:

Another sidebar: baby on a beach: (ok, not quite a baby but always my baby anyway)

I did... read one and a half books.

I did... watch Cars 242 1/2 times (in between beach outings and before bedtimes).

I did... run on the beach right after sunrise.

I did... watch the sun set every night.

I did... see dolphins swimming in the water from our balcony.

I did... use sunscreen.

I did... chase my son down the beach as he chased every.single.bird. he could see.

I did... see a huge hawk land on our balcony and fly away before I could get my camera.

I did... do one open water swim by myself and only mildly freak out (it's a much different story when there's dozens of limbs flailing at once, I am sure the sea life stays far away from that.)

I did... watch almost no television (except for the aforementioned Cars when it was on).

I did... have ice cream with my boys at a homemade ice cream shoppe, the kind of shop that requires an "e" on the end of it, as in shoppe.

I did... coerce my husband into taking the kids to a Japanese Steak House where they thought the flames on the grill in front of them were the coolest.thing.ever.

I did... find some of the most beautiful shells I've ever seen and I live in Florida where shells are pretty much the thing.

I did...get sand stuck in my bathing suit bottoms.

I did... have one of my thighs nibbled on by a tiny fish, like I had barnacles or something.

I did a million other things with my family and we had such wonderful moments (with a couple of tantrums thrown in there but hey, that's what family is all about. The kids had some tantrums too. Hehe.)

But most of all, I did... cherish every single moment of being present with my family and disconnected from the rest of the planet.

Great photos! I'm so sad that we are not going on vacation this year. We are all. But we made the decision to save money and we are sticking to it. But not liking it.at.all.Last year when we went to FL for 2 weeks I thought I'd be so lost without the internet for 2 wks. I totally wasn't. I actually liked it very much. I'm trying to balance my internet/IRL time better. Sometimes I get a little too wrapped up in the internet.

I`ll confess that the days I spent disconnected last weekend taught me that I can go a day or two without being in contact with the whole world and still have a great time. Whew, glad that little lesson is over and that I`m back online. ;) Glad you had such a great trip.